Under the new rules half of the 450 lower house MPs will be
running on party lists and the other half from single-mandate
independent constituencies. The election threshold for parties is
lowered from 7 to 5 percent. The mixed system will replace the
proportional voting system, introduced in 2007, in which all
deputies were elected on party tickets.

The new bill has been passed by the State Duma by a huge majority
(only the small Communist Party caucus voted against it) and the
Federation Council has passed it unanimously with just one
abstention.

However, the chairman of the Central Elections Commission,
Vladimir Churov, was critical of the changes when he spoke to the
Upper House last week. According to Churov, the return to mixed
elections would lower the real representation and return it to
the level of the early 2000s. In addition Russia’s election boss
predicted that the changes could cost up to and extra 1 billion
rubles (under $28 million), as they increase the probability of
repeated voting.

The new law also requires political parties and independents to
prove their popularity among voters before being allowed to
participate in the polls. Parties must present signatures of at
least 200,000 supporters from across the country and independents
must demonstrate the support of at least 3 percent of voters in
their constituency. Political parties don't need to meet this
requirement if they collected at least 3 percent of votes at
previous elections, or if at least one party member sits in a
legislature of any of Russia’s regions.

The act also raises the election fund of one parliamentary
candidate from 6 to 15 million rubles ($171,000 - $428,000) and
allows media representatives to officially request copies of
voting protocols from district and regional election commissions.

Of the 75 political parties currently registered in Russia only
12 comply with the new law and are eligible for the polls without
presenting additional signatures of support.